


Meta: The Buildup of Genoan Military Islamophobia over the 11th Century

by staranise



Series: The Old Guard Historical Research Notes [1]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Gen, Historical Background, Islamophobia, Meta, The Crusades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:22:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25760527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staranise/pseuds/staranise
Summary: Nonfiction research: Almost a century before the First Crusade, Genoa was sending out military forces into the world to fight Muslims for the cause of "Christendom". This is an overview of how, for Nicky, Islamophobia would not be a weird fringe belief stemming from religious extremism, but an ordinary and established part of his worldview.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: The Old Guard Historical Research Notes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868767
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62
Collections: The Old Guard Resources





	Meta: The Buildup of Genoan Military Islamophobia over the 11th Century

**Author's Note:**

> This is just one aspect of the whole story of Mediterranean trade and interfaith relations in the Middle Ages. Genoa also had a lot of peaceful encounters with the Islamic world, just as they fought with Pisa when the two cities weren't allies. I'm trying to make history more accessible to fans who love this ship, but there are so many more resources than me. Please let me be your springboard to more learning about this part of history.
> 
> This meta was originally posted [here on Tumblr](https://with-my-murder-flute.tumblr.com/post/624956465560649728/disclaimer-if-writing-niccolo-di-genova-as-a).

**Disclaimer:** If writing Niccolo di Genova as a lapsed Catholic priest having gay sex with his immortal lover does it for you, do that and have fun!!! Hooray!!! Ignore me!!!

But I… am having a weirdly negative emotional reaction to the idea of Nicky as an ex-priest, and it’s not because it paints Catholicism in a bad light. I think it’s almost because it paints Catholicism in _too good_ a light? I just feel like stories about religion have this tendency to say “Oh the extremist zealots are terrible but the ordinary people are okay.”

Whereas growing up in 11th century Genoa and learning from the cradle to hate Muslims and hunger to go to war against them is _as ordinary as it comes._ You did _not_ need to be part of the priesthood for this. I think we need some backstory.

Nicky and Joe met in 1099, so Nicky was maybe born in the 1070s. 

Arab Muslims had control of a lot of the Mediterranean from the 8th century onwards. Powerful Arab Muslim military forces held massive power in North Africa, Spain, and Sicily. (For reference: Sardinia and Sicily are closer to Tunisia than they are to each other)

Beginning in the early 1000s, Genoa and its neighbouring city Pisa, with the approval and encouragement of the papacy, began to engage in aggressive military moves against the Arab Muslims they called “Saracens” for control of the Mediterranean. Over several decades, they drove Muslim forces out of Sardinia and Corsica, then began attacking and trying to conquer Sicily and North Africa.

Nicky would have grown in Genoa hearing about this central conflict of his parents’ and grandparents’ lives. He was alive but maybe not old enough to participate in 1087, when Genoa, Rome, and Pisa combined forces, again with the Pope’s blessing, to sack the town of Mahdia in modern Tunisia (this time with the church’s offer of indulgences to forgive the sins of those who participated).

In many ways, he grew up in the _cradle_ of the Crusades–Rome’s closest neighbours, close allies, who saw themselves as pushing back their military and spiritual enemies and establishing a safe, secure, unified Christendom. When Nicky learned to fight, “Saracens” are the enemies he would have been trained to expect since the first moment he picked up a sword. It’s very likely that he wasn’t the first member of his family to sail off to raise the banner of holy war against the “Saracen evil”, but instead the _third generation._

So… yeah. The Crusades weren’t just an outburst of fanaticism. Nicky wasn’t just a weirdo wingnut. When he says he was “taught to hate” Joe, that wasn’t just some priest sniffing “Muslims are going to Hell.” It was a fully immersive cradle-to-grave 360-degree panorama on every level of society. Meeting Yusuf Al-Kaysani changed _everything about him._


End file.
